Hidden Angel
by ammstar11
Summary: Minos has a grudge against Hades and decides to strike back at him by kidnapping his son. Nico lost his mother and sister in a car crash and lost all memory from before the crash and is now living another life locked away from the world. Rumors are going around that the house down the rundown street is haunted and the local kids and teens try to catch a glimpse.
1. Chapter 1 Missing memory

**This started out with me listening to my iPod and the song "Out there" from Disney's _The Hunchback of Notre dame_ came on and I thought hey maybe I could do a story similar with Nico and Minos and instead of being deformed he can see ghosts! But then it somehow became this and it resembles more the story of Rapunzel, but hey I'm good with that too! Also this is a human AU.**

 **I own none of the characters recognised in this story, or the titles listed above!**

 **Warning: death, kidnapping, forced drug use (pharmaceutical), and various illegal happenings.**

 **RATED T (pg. 14 maybe?)**

 **Chapter 1 Missing memory**

 ** _"Fatal car crash kills a Los Angeles family of three_."** Reads the headline on the front page of the newspaper. **_"During a family outing a woman and her two children were struck by an oncoming vehicle and rolled off the side of the highway making recovery difficult. First responders report that the driver of the other vehicle made it out with minor injuries but the woman and daughter were pronounced dead on the scene, the son was taken to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries and died. When told of the tragic loss, the husband and father of the deceased, Hades di Angelo refused to speak with reporters, wishing to be alone with his grieving."_**

Minos smiled to himself as he read the morning paper. Of course he already knew about the fatal crash, he had been one of the first responders on the scene. The paper said that none of the family of three had survived but that wasn't necessarily true, yes the mother and daughter had died on scene and the son was rushed to the hospital, but he did not die.

Minos had connections in that hospital and had them take care of the boy and make it look like he had died, knowing that the medical examiner would have to fill out a report, he had paid him off to make the report similar to the other two in order for it to be more believable, the father in his grieving would wait before claiming the bodies of his family.

In the meantime Minos had brought the boy to a secluded motel on the outskirts of town. Despite what was in the medical report, the boy had actually sustained little injury during the crash, he had hit his head and was unconscious and unresponsive when help arrived and remained so until shortly after arriving at the hospital, after that he had been put into a medical induced coma and made to appear to have slipped away in his sleep (that doctor had been paid off too.)

Years ago Minos had worked for a large company owned and run by Hades di Angelo, one of the most powerful business owners in the country, Minos had been fired when it was discovered that he had been cutting corners and falsifying reports in order to steal money among other things. He had also been paying people off if any got wind of what he was doing, but somehow still word of what he was doing had reached Hades and in order to not cause a huge incident he had been fired and banned from employment under Hades or his brothers who were also big business owners, which unfortunately meant many of the large scale companies around the country.

He had thought of many ways to strike back at Hades but had never dreamed that something like this would present itself to him! To think he now held the life of Hades' son in his hands, it wouldn't take long for them to figure out that the death was fake and that the boy was missing, but it would take longer still for them to trace it all back to him, not that it would do them much good, he had changed his name and address long ago.

After making sure that the boy would not wake up for some time yet, Minos went to turn in his letter of resignation saying that the stress of the job and the emotional turmoil after responding to the crash had been too much for him, no one would question it because seeing something like that could be hard for anyone to handle. Then he headed home and packed up what he needed, luckily this was just a temporary home and didn't hold much of his belongings so packing was quick and easy.

Once he was finished he loaded everything up into his vehicle and stopped to pick up child sized clothes before he returned to the motel. He had made sure to pay in cash leaving no substantial evidence that he had been there and had made sure that the desk clerk didn't know he wasn't alone. After he had gotten his room key upon first arriving at the motel earlier that day he had returned to his car to grab his belongings and that was when he moved the child inside when no one was around to see.

With his medical training he could safely keep the boy comatose for a while yet but he wanted to see what effects everything had had on him. So he roused the boy from his sleep. "Hey, wake up." Minos said gently and the boy's eyelids began to flutter open as he slowly came to.

"Huh?" he said, blinking his eye's groggily as he tried to sit up but Minos made him remain lying down.

"Don't try to sit up just yet, you've been in a nasty accident and hurt your head pretty badly, how do you feel?"

The boy reached up and grasped his head. "My head really hurts."

Minos nodded, he knew that when dealing with children you would have to take your time and really listen to find out what you wanted to know. "Do you remember what happened?"

He began to shake his head but found it to be too painful so he spoke instead. "No."

"Do you remember your name?"

He was about to nod his head but thought better of it. "Nico."

Minos nodded, he had already known the boy's name he just needed to know how much he remembered about himself. "How about anything else from before you got hurt?"

"No."

"That's okay Nico, you don't have to worry about it because I'm right here with you and everything is going to be alright now. You just get some more rest." As he had suspected Nico appeared to have amnesia as a result of suffering a blow to the head, it could take a long time for his memory to return or it may never return at all, either way this worked well for Minos, so long as Nico couldn't remember anything he was like clay in his hands, he could be molded and shaped into what Minos wanted.

The next day early in the morning Minos checked out of the room and took Nico out to the car and gave him something to help with his pain and make him sleep as he drove. The fuel tank was nearly full so they wouldn't have to stop to refuel anytime soon and would be well on their way before anyone caught onto what was happening.

…

A couple of days later as they were staying in another motel along the highway, Minos read the morning paper while Nico slept soundly on the bed. The main article on the front page spoke of the crash that had happened just outside of Los Angeles a few days ago and how it was discovered that members of the medical team had falsified the death of Nico di Angelo, son of the well-known business CEO Hades di Angelo, and now it had become a kidnapping case.

 ** _"After the tragic loss of both his wife and young daughter, Hades thought he would have to bury his son as well. When Hades went to the hospital to claim the bodies of his family, his son was missing. When pressed for an explanation the medical examiner admitted that the death had been a fake so there was no body to claim and that the boy was no longer there. It is still unclear as to who is behind this or what their motives are, but one thing is for certain, there is no describing the anguish that this man must be going through in these hard times."_**

It goes on to notify the public that there was an amber alert out for ten year old Nico di Angelo with a full description of what he looked like and listed contact information for anyone who might have seen Nico anywhere and saying that there was a reward for any useful information that would be paid by Hades himself.

Minos laughed quietly to himself, this was what he had been hoping for but it still wasn't enough. Hades had only just begun to suffer.

When Nico awoke Minos made sure he had something to eat and then got him to take some medicine _'because you still need plenty of rest._ ' He had told him.

Once again they were on the road again, going in seemingly random directions, stopping now and then only as they needed to, sometimes Nico would be awake and Minos would have him stay quietly in the room they would be staying in, saying that he was sick and needed rest and that if he was good he would get a present.

Minos would go shopping and buy a few changes of clothes here and there and decided to pick up something that would keep Nico occupied while he was left alone. So he bought a few books here, a couple of small toys or some card game there. He was always sure to stop at different places and to always pay with cash; even traveling sporadically as they were he still didn't want to leave any kind of trail behind.

He would then return to the motel and give Nico his new clothes and gift and late at night or early in the morning every day or two they would move on to the next place. They never left a clear path and most of the time Nico would be given something to help him sleep, sometimes Minos would give him something for pain and others he would slip it into Nico's food or drink and would tell him that he was just sickly and needed lots of sleep when he began to feel the effects.

They kept this up for a few months, always on the move so no one could get a good description of them if they ever saw them together. Eventually they made it up to New York where Minos lived most of the year; it was located in a rundown neighborhood with few neighbors around to take notice of them. And those that did live nearby didn't know him very well since when he was home he would keep to himself.

It was a little past midnight when they arrived at the house; Minos carried Nico from the car into the house and laid him down on the sofa as he went upstairs to the higher floor of the three story home to set up a room for him. After the room was arranged he went out to the car and brought in the toys and clothes to put in the room as well.

At last he finished and went down to the living room and shook Nico's shoulder to wake him, the effects of the drug would still be there but he would be able to wake up for a short time. "Nico wake up, we're home now. Come on let's get you up to your room."

Nico sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes as he looked around trying to take in his surroundings "Home?" he mumbled, his eyes still drooping.

"Yes, this is home, although you may not remember it since you hurt your head and all."

Nico still feeling really sleepy nodded his head.

Minos had told him that he had lost all of his memories when he had hurt his head and wouldn't be able to recognize things like home or his life before the accident but the traveling they did might help him remember, of course it hadn't though seeing as how Nico had never been to those places he would have no prier memory of them and that included this house. "Do you remember the way to your room?"

Nico paused to think then shook his head. He was very honest even for a ten year old; he was so innocent and trusting. "No." he said simply to which Minos smiled.

"Well then I should show you the way, let's get going." he held out a hand for Nico to take and led him up the stairs to the top floor where his room was to be.

"Now remember, too much sunlight isn't good for you and neither is too much of the outside air, you may have gotten too much already on the trip which is why you would sleep so much, so keep the windows closed and the curtains too. I'll bring you some food when it is time to eat and there is a washroom just down the first flight of stairs but you must stay in your room otherwise for now. I will bring you toys and games to help pass the time but for now get some rest."

Nico nodded and walked over to the bed and settled down and Minos turned off the light and closed the door behind him after leaving the room.

Minos could feel a cruel smile tugging at his lips as he left the top floor, it was so easy to trick the child, a few kind words here, a few half-truths there, and convincing lies that would explain anything slightly off about anything and Nico would believe everything he told him.

After a while Minos would let Nico leave the upper floors and wander around the house but because of his condition he told him, he was never to leave the house. He was too sick to go outside and interact with people.

They had a television but no cable, he couldn't let Nico accidently stumble upon a news story or anything connecting him to the outside world so they watched movies instead but of course this was no problem for Nico.

Minos kept up to date on news stories through the paper which he always got rid of after he was finished with it. He had taught Nico to do simple housekeeping and meal prep for when he would leave him alone in order to go to work but he never said what his work was.

Nico was to stay inside like always, keep the doors and windows locked and just to be safe to stay away from the windows too.

For the most part Nico is obedient and does as he's told, but every now and then when he's home alone he will sit up in his bedroom and peer out the window along the side of the house to catch glimpses of the world outside and wonder what it would be like to be able to go out there and experience it for himself.

 **Okay so that was chapter 1! I am purposely trying to make Minos as creepy as possible without turning him into a pervert or anything like that. He's just a psycho who isn't fazed by using a child as a means to reach his goals of revenge. I had an idea of where I was going with this when I started but it kind of just went its own way as I wrote on and now the plot is getting twisted around but I don't hate it so there's that.**


	2. Chapter 2 Ghost stories

**I do not own Percy Jackson, Scooby Doo or any of the characters mentioned in this chapter.**

 **Chapter 2 Ghost stories**

After a couple of years rumors had started going around that the house down the partly deserted street was haunted. Some have sworn that they have seen a ghostly figure in the upper windows now and then. Others claim to have seen a face peering out of one of the windows. While others have only seen the curtains move when all the windows are closed and the only person living in the house has been away.

There is never any sign of anyone else living in the home, no one else comes and goes no matter what part of the day, no lights are ever on late at night when the home owner is away, aside from the rumored sightings in the upper windows there has never been any sign of there being anyone else in the home so most people brush the rumors aside as fabricated stories meant to scare away nosey neighbors.

Despite the many doubts the rumors become an urban legend among the local kids and teens that all try to catch a glimpse of the mysterious figure in the upper floor windows but rare few ever do.

Since the home owner leaves for up to a few days now and then, a group of friends living nearby have taken it upon themselves to watch the home whenever he leaves to see if they can see the figure for themselves. They watch the house each day to see if the man has left and each time get a little closer to the house to see what they can see.

One day when the man isn't home the group of friends test each other to see who is brave enough to go close enough to get a good look if the figure does appear.

"Percy you're the oldest you should go!" a blond boy with light blue eyes says to a boy with short black hair and sea green eyes.

"Why do I always have to go? What's stopping any of you guys from going?" Percy turns and looks at the others.

"Hey don't look at me; this whole Scooby Doo thing was Leo's idea remember?" the blond boy who had spoken first said turning to the boy next to him, he had curly dark brown hair and was fiddling around with random things he had pulled out of his pocket as he seemed prone to doing.

"Hey if we're the gang from Scooby Doo I call not being a girl!" Leo said not looking up from whatever it was he was doing.

Percy just looks at him like he's crazy. "Jason tell me again why we brought him?" the blond boy, Jason just shrugs his shoulders. "He's my best friend and one of the only ones dumb enough to sneak over here with us to spy on the supposedly haunted house."

Percy nods and turns to the forth member of their group. "And what about him?" he gestures to the other blond haired blue eyed boy with slightly darker coloring and freckles dusting his face.

"Will is my next door neighbor and wanted to see if there's really a ghost here so I let him tag along." Leo supplied still working on whatever he had going there.

Percy and Jason just look at him. "Well back to the matter at hand before we got all sidetracked like usual, why do I always have to go first?" Percy said getting their focus again.

"I'll go; I'm not afraid of ghosts." Will said, he was the youngest of the group of four by a year or two.

"Hey who said anything about being scared of ghosts?" Percy asked.

"Come on gang lets go catch us a ghost!" Leo said as they headed from their stakeout spot on an empty lot down the street from the house.

"You know this is probably just some stupid scam or something to scare the local kid's right?" Jason said.

"I'm thinking the guy probably started the rumors himself to keep people away." Leo added as they drew closer to the house.

"Hey Shaggy, Scooby, if you're too chicken to actually go up to the house I'm not pulling out any Scooby snacks for you." Percy said.

"HEY!" the two said indignantly and Leo asked "Wait who's who?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter just keep going."

Leo nudges Jason with his elbow. "I'm Shaggy, you can be the dog. And Will's Daphne, the one that always gets caught by the ghosts and monsters."

There were no protests from Will though, he was too busy watching the house as they got closer to see if he could catch any sign of movement on the top floor like he was always hearing about. He had always wanted to see a ghost for himself, and when rumors of a haunted house nearby started up he felt like his chance had finally come.

They stopped at the edge of the yard in front of the house next to the one from the rumors. So far they hadn't seen anything.

"I'm telling you guys it's all just some big hoax, let's just go to the arcade or something." Leo said as he pulled what looked like pipe cleaners out of his pocket.

"Wait what's that?" Percy asked pointing to a window along the side of the house.

All four looked up and saw part of what seemed to be a pale face peeking out from behind a curtain in one of the dark rooms upstairs but it was gone too quickly to make out any real features.

"Oh God there really is something up there, did you guys see it?!" Jason said.

"Um yeah, what was that? Do you think this place is really haunted? What if it's like some evil spirit and it wants to put a curse on us or something?" Leo asked; whatever he had in his hands had been completely forgotten by now.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm not sticking around to find out." Percy said as he quickly turned and headed back the way they had come, the other two following right behind him. None of them bothering to check to make sure that the fourth member of their group was with them.

Will was still standing in place watching the spot that the face had been, he was too curious to be scared off by the thought of some evil spirit, so he decided to get a better look.

Will looks around to make sure that no one was looking and then heads into the yard and around the house to where a tree is close to the upper windows and begins to climb. Once he reaches a branch that is almost level with the far window he looks toward it only to nearly fall out of the tree when he sees someone looking back at him. It's a boy, maybe about his age, with dark hair like Percy but with dark eye's set into a pale face.

Will can't help but stare at the boy, if this was the ghost from the stories, he was probably the first person to get such a close look at it and he wanted to see it as well as he could so he moved a little closer to the window that he then noticed was partly open.

"Are you a ghost?" he hears himself ask, still staring at the boy in the window.

The boy shakes his head. "No, who are you?" he asked staring back at Will just as equally like he'd never seen another kid this close before, although he probably didn't see many kids sitting in a tree outside his window on the third floor so it was understandable.

"Will, my name is Will, what's yours?" he said bringing himself out of his thoughts, Percy was right about the getting sidetracked thing.

There was a long pause as the boy continued to stare at Will like he was an alien or some weird creature, but he supposed that was how he was probably looking at him too, he had thought he was a ghost after all.

"Nico." he said at last. "You shouldn't be here, dad wouldn't like it. I'm not even supposed to be near the window or talk to people."

Will blinked in surprise. "Why not?"

Nico looked down slightly like he felt bad for doing something wrong. "Because I get sick easily and have to stay inside all the time."

He was sick? Well that and that he was always inside with the windows closed might explain why he looked like a ghost Will thought. "Can I help? My dad's a doctor and I kind of know how to take care of sick people."

But Nico just shakes his head. "You shouldn't be up here; I shouldn't be talking to you."

"Awe come on don't be that way, I thought we could be friends! You know now that I know that you're not a ghost, although being friends with a ghost might be cool too." Will gave Nico a friendly smile.

There was another pause as Nico seemed to think that over. "I've never had any friends before."

Will's smile turns to a look of complete shock. "What how can that be?" Will asked, unable to believe someone could go through life without ever making a single friend.

Nico bites his lip before replying. "Well I don't really know. I hurt my head when I was younger and lost all of my memories. But my dad takes care of me. I can't leave because I'm so weak and get sick easily so I haven't been able to make any friends."

Will didn't know it was possible to be anymore shocked than he already was after hearing that Nico had never had any friends but he came close to almost falling out of the tree again when Nico said he had lost all of his memories.

"Wow, did you really lose all of your memories?" he finally managed to ask when he could find his voice again.

Nico nodded. "Everything but my name 'Nico'." he said.

"Well then!" Will said with a big smile on his face, "I'll be your first friend!" his smile only grew when he saw a small smile on Nico's face.

"Okay."

 **And that's chapter two! Yay me! Okay I really don't know what's coming next just yet and its a few minutes away from 3am. Random rant here but what do spelling/ grammar checks have against the name Will? I keep having to retype things or hit the ignore option when it says I'm wrong. So annoying!**

 **Also sorry if the characters are well, out of character, I'm just trying to get the story going, so don't be mad.**

 **I keep watching the word counter as I type this and it makes me happy to see so many words, this is only two chapters so far and already longer than most of my others, again yay me! And another happy moment, there's no errors according to Word, though I did need to hit the ignore button for a few things to get it to say what I wanted it to but still I'll take what I can get.**


	3. Chapter 3 Fair princess

**Chapter 3 Fair princess**

Nico knew that his dad would be really upset with him if he ever found out that he would hangout around the windows when he was home alone, but he would really be angry if he ever found out that a boy had climbed the tree outside of Nico's window to talk to him. But Will had seemed really nice and he had said that he wanted to be Nico's first friend, so would his dad be angry over that? It was probably best not to tell him anyway, just in case. Nico didn't want to get Will into trouble.

Will had told him that he would come back again when Nico's dad wasn't home so that they wouldn't get caught. After all they were friends now so they should get to know each other better. Maybe now Nico wouldn't feel so lonely when his dad was away.

Nico used to hate when his dad would leave, he would feel all alone in the big house and wish that he had someone to talk to. But now he looked forward to that time alone because that meant that Will would be able to come and see him, and he would have a real friend.

He didn't feel so alone anymore and he always got to learn something new when Will told him stories. Sure when his dad got home from his work he would bring Nico gifts but they didn't really make him happy, they were just meant for him to pass the time with while he was alone.

Will had kept his promise and came back anytime Nico's dad was away and he would sit in the tree chatting away each time. This went on for a couple of months.

The next time Minos had left he had told Nico that he would be gone for three days, and had left enough food for him to eat. He reminded him that he needed to be sure to take his medicine and get plenty of rest.

Nico hated that he spent so much time sleeping, if he didn't feel so tired all of the time maybe he could spend more time talking with Will. Maybe if he wasn't so sick he would be able to go outside and be a regular kid instead of being stuck inside all the time.

Will had told him about times when he was sick and how his dad always took good care of him until he was better, but would Nico ever get better? He sure hoped so; at the very least he wanted to be able to remember things from before his accident.

Nico was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a tapping sound from outside his bedroom window. He smiled knowing only one person that could be out there. He ran over to the window to open it and found Will sitting on his usual perch in the tree just outside. This time he was holding something in his hand and smiled broadly at Nico as he held the thing out for him to take.

Nico took the thing and looked at it. "What is it?" he asked turning it over and looking at the odd shape and buttons on it.

Will held up a matching one still smiling. "They're walkie-talkies; we can use them to talk to each other without you having to open your window or me to climb the tree, though I might still do that since it's so fun to sit in the tree while talking. Try it! You just press down on the button here when you want to talk into it, see?" he held his close to his mouth as he held down the button, "Testing, testing one two three."

Nico looked down at the walkie-talkie in his hand when he heard Wills voice come through it. "That's so cool! Let me try!" he said with a huge grin on his face and closed his window then stood on the other side of his room before holding down the button. "Can you hear me Will?"

Will waved to him then used his to answer back, "Loud and clear out here!"

Nico told Will about the latest movie his dad had bought him and about what book he was reading, Will smiled at his enthusiasm about the characters and the great adventures they would go on. Not being able to leave the house himself, Nico really enjoyed seeing the world through the character's eye even if they were made up worlds.

"Wouldn't it be cool to go on amazing adventures fighting monsters or exploring the world?" Nico asked "The characters in these books go on awesome quests to save the world! I wish I could be a hero, but locked up here I'm more like a princess in need of rescuing." he said a little disheartened.

"Well I guess I'll just have to be your knight in shining armor then, won't I?" Will asked with a huge grin on his face.

Nico looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

Will moved closer to the window. "I mean _fair princess_ , that I _Sir William_ shall rescue you from this tower and take you on an adventure of your own! What do you say?"

Nico wasn't sure how he felt about being referred to as ' _fair princess'_ but since it was Will, he didn't let it bother him. "Well _Sir William_ how do you suggest getting me out? Dad always keeps the doors locked and I'm on the third floor right now."

Will smiled back. "We can just climb down this tree and when it's time to get you home we'll climb back up!"

Nico looked doubtful. "I've never climbed a tree before that I know of Will, what if I fall?"

"You'll be okay, I'll be right there to catch you so don't worry!"

After a moment to think it over he decided that the idea of leaving this house and going on an adventure with Will was too good to pass up. So he set down his walkie-talkie on his bed and walked over to the window and opened it. He wasn't afraid of heights; he spent much of his time home alone looking out the top floor windows, more so now, now that he had Will to talk to. But he had never climbed out of a window to climb down a tree before and that did make him a bit nervous. But Will had promised he'd help him so he wasn't too worried, he fully trusted Will.

So he opened his window again and with a deep breath for courage he climbed up onto the window sill and sat on it in order to slowly edge out onto the tree branch where Will waited with his hand out stretched for Nico to hold onto for support and helped him slowly make his way to the trunk of the tree and showed him where to hold on so that he wouldn't fall.

"Just follow my lead, I'll climb down first and wait for you at the bottom and that way I'll be there to catch you if you fall."

Nico nodded as he watched Will descend the tree. When Will got to the base of the tree and looked up at him Nico took another deep breath and started climbing down the way he watch Will do it. Once he was nearly to the ground Will helped him hop off the tree and for the first time since the day he came home Nico was standing outside. He looked around in awe trying to take in everything around him. He didn't even have any shoes because he never needed to leave the house so he was standing out here with bare feet which Will noticed.

"Don't you have shoes?" he asked looking at Nico's feet. Nico shook his head "I haven't worn shoes since dad brought me home after the accident, I couldn't go outside so I never needed any."

No matter how many times Nico told him that he wasn't able to leave the house Will just couldn't wrap his mind around it, it seemed.

"So you couldn't even go outside to play in the yard? You haven't left your house ever in two whole years?"

Nico nodded again. "Dad says I'm too sick to be outside," he took a deep breath "but I feel fine. Maybe I've gotten better?"

Will shrugged. "Maybe."

Will seemed to think something over and then smiled "I know! We'll go to my house and I'll give you a pair of my old shoes so that you'll have some when you go outside next time!"

Nico looked a little confused at that. "Next time?"

This time Will nodded. "Yeah! The next time your dad's gone for a long time I'll help you leave your tower again, my _fair princess_." he did an exaggerated bow and Nico's cheeks heated up a little at once again being referred to as ' _fair princes'_.

"Well I guess that'll be okay."

Will beamed at that. "Great! Let's go to my house then, it's not that far." he paused for a moment then walked up to Nico and crouched down next to him. "Here hop on my back I'll carry you so that you don't step on anything."

Nico looked a bit skeptical though. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure, like I said it's not that far to my house, and you don't have anything on your feet so I can't let you walk."

After a couple of heart beats Nico walked over to Will and climbed onto his back.

Will stood up and made sure that Nico wouldn't fall, "Alright then off we go! Hold on tight!" and with that he started running down the block carrying Nico who had to wrap his arms around Will's neck to make sure that he was hanging on but soon enough eased up on his grip slightly, and they were both laughing as Will ran all the way home.

 **And chapter 3 end!**

 **Well we're back to more the plot of Rapunzel but that's okay. I hope that you are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it! Thank you all for the reviews, they really make me happy to see.**

 **( ^_^) Hugs for you all!**

 **I hope things weren't too repetitive.**

 **My aunt read this story and really liked it so far. She told me that I should show it to our aunt since she's a published writer.**

 **Is that not awesome?!**


	4. Chapter 4 the best of friends

**I don't know how long this story is going to be just yet, but going by word count it's already the longest and I still have a ways to go! This chapter is going to be a mix of points of view unlike the others where it was only one, for the most part anyway.**

 **Chapter 4 The best of friends**

Will was out of breath by the time they reached his front door though whether it was from the running or the laughing or a combination of the two he didn't really care. It was so fun that he wanted to do it again and again until his lungs gave out but he knew he couldn't. Besides Nico was at his house! They could finally sit in the same room and talk or play as much as they wanted to.

He set Nico down on the step as he opened the front door to let them into the house. "My parents aren't home right now so we have the house to ourselves, though I guess you're used to that huh?"

Nico nodded as he looked around the house when they stepped inside.

Ever since he lost his memory all he's ever seen is the inside of his own house or the motel rooms that he and his dad stayed in while traveling around, he had seen a bit of scenery as they drove but he was always so groggy that it was kind of fuzzy when he tried to remember any of it.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Will speaking to him.

"Isn't it lonely to always be stuck at home? Especially when your dad leaves?"

Nico shrugged he hadn't really felt lonely ever since he met Will. "I guess but it's all I remember, so I guess I'm used to it."

Will made a face at that then smiled; he smiled a lot Nico noticed. "Well we're going to change that! Come upstairs to my room, I have something to show you!"

Will took Nico's hand and led him up the stairs towards his room. "So you know how you kept telling me about that card game that you really liked?" he let go of Nico's hand as they entered the room and he went over to the bedside table and opened the drawer and pulled out a stack of cards. "I told my parents about it so now I have my own, do you want to play?"

Nico's face lit up, he had never actually played against anyone before just sorted out the cards and came up with different strategies for them. The thought of actually being able to play the game was so exciting for him. "Okay!"

Will set up the game mat and dealt out the cards into two decks as evenly as he could so that it would be an even match and they started the game.

After half an hour they had played five rounds because despite never playing before Nico was great at the game and the battles were short leaving Nico the victor all five rounds in a row.

"Wow your great at this! Maybe I should stop calling you _fair princess_ and start calling you _mighty general_. Do you think that you could give me some pointers so that the next time I face off against Leo I'll be able to take him out in under five turns?"

Nico looked up at the unfamiliar name. "Leo?"

"A friend of mine who lives next door, I was with him and a couple of his friends the day I first met you. You know back when we thought you were a ghost."

Nico remembered there being a group of boys outside that day, the others had run away when they saw him but Will had stayed and even ventured close enough to climb the tree and talk to him.

"Were the other two your friends too?" he was curious who Will's other friends were, he had only seen those boys that one time and Will spent so much time visiting him that he hadn't given the others much thought.

"I guess we're friends now but that was the first time I had actually met those two. Leo had told me about how he and some friends wanted to go investigate the rumors of a haunted house and I was curious too so he let me tag along, and I'm really glad I did!" Will flashed another bright smile at him which he returned.

"I'm really glad you did too." Who knew it was possible for Will to smile even more than he already had been.

"Hey I have an idea! Why don't I introduce you to my other friends so that you can meet more people and make other friends too!"

Nico wasn't so sure about that though. "I don't know, I'm not really used to being around people other than you or my dad, what would I say to them?"

Will took a moment to think it over. "Why don't we challenge them to a game and show them how awesome you are! I'm sure that it would be lots of fun."

Nico stared down at the cards in front of him and decided that it did sound like fun. "Okay, let's go!"

They packed up the card game and headed downstairs again. As they reached the coat closet Will stopped. "We can't forget about these!" he said as he bent down to dig around in the closet for his old shoes to give to Nico. "Here you go." he passed Nico a pair of grey running shoes with images of bows and arrows drawn on them in marker, Nico took them and looked at the drawings.

"I went to camp last summer and got really into archery so I drew those everywhere, my shoes, my backpack, my notebooks, kind of drove my mom crazy with it." Will told him.

Nico wondered what it would be like to go to a real camp and if maybe he could one day.

Will figured out what must have been going through Nico's head so he changed the subject. "Why don't we see how the shoes fit?"

Nico sat down on the little stool by the closet while Will placed the shoes on his feet.

"There, how does that feel?" he asked as he felt the toe of the shoes to see how much room Nico's feet had.

Nico wiggled his toes around finding the shoes comfortable enough. "Good I guess, it's kind of hard remembering the last time I even had shoes on my feet."

Will considered this for a moment before asking "Do you remember how to tie shoe laces?" Nico just shook his head. "That's okay I can show you." Will showed Nico how to tie laces so that they were tight enough and wouldn't come undone. "There! Okay let's go see what Leo is up to next door." And with that they were on their way out the door.

…

Will knocked on the door of his neighbor's house and a minute later Leo came to the door.

"Hey Will! Where have you been lately? I hardly see you outside of school these days and summers right around the corner."

Will shrugged nonchalantly. "I've been visiting my friend Nico," he gestures to Nico standing next to him on the porch, "we were just wondering if you would like to join us for a card battle, Nico here is a great player he just kicked my butt five times in a row in less than five turns each time!" Will held up his deck of cards to show Leo.

Nico felt his embarrassed being spoken so highly of to one of Will's friends. No one had ever said something like that about him to anyone before because it had always just been him and his dad until Will came along.

Leo seemed impressed though, he even gave a low whistle. "Woah that impressive alright. Jason and Percy are over, they came to play video games but maybe they would want to try to beat your record, they can be pretty competitive."

Will smiled and looked at Nico. "Great!" he said while Nico nodded shyly.

Leo invites them in and leads the way to the basement were the other boys were sitting waiting for him.

"Hey man what took so long?" Jason asked as he saw Leo coming down the stairs.

"Yeah we were waiting, hey who's that with you?" Percy asked spotting the other two right behind Leo.

Leo stopped at the foot of the stairs and gestured behind him. "Will and his friend here wanted to challenge us to a card battle, you guys up for it? Apparently this kid's really good." he said pointing to Nico who could feel his face heating up again.

"How good?" Jason asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Will answered for him which Nico was thankful for. "He hasn't actually played before today but he kicked my butt five rounds out of five!" Nico wondered if it was normal for people to be so happy about losing so badly or if Will was just that happy of a person that nothing really bothered him.

Just like Leo had done before Percy let out a low whistle. "Wow, if you keep that up you could enter tournaments or something." he looked over at Jason and then smiled back at them. "Okay you're on! As it so happens we have our cards with us too!"

Leo looked over at Will and Nico as if to say ' _See? I told you so.'_ Then he turned back to Percy and Jason. "Alright, first we can have one on one matches to see who can get the most wins and then we'll do team battles with the person with the least amount of wins as the score keeper, deal?" everyone agreed.

More than two hours later they had played more rounds than anticipated because after Nico had won every one of his matches three times -because everyone had demanded a rematch each time- then they had the team battles with Leo as the score keeper, Nico and Will had won that four times because Percy and Jason were determined to win at least once against them but never could. Finally it was getting late into the evening and they had to go home for dinner, with Jason going over to Percy's since they were cousins, and Will offering for Nico to come over to his place for dinner.

"Come on it'll be fun! And then after we can play again."

But Nico shook his head. "I should really get home, I have my dinner waiting for me already and I have to take my medicine still."

This had caught the other's attention.

"What do you have to take medicine for? You don't look sick?" Percy asked looking at him as if it would help him solve the mystery.

Nico shrugged. "I've always had a weak body and get tired easily and I spend a lot of time sleeping so I have to take my medicine everyday if I want to get better."

The three boys looked at him in amazement; they couldn't picture this lively kid who could take them all out so easily in a card battle as someone who couldn't stay alert very much.

"Is that why we haven't seen you at school before?" Jason asked looking kind of worried now.

"I'm home schooled, dad says I could get worse if I leave the house for things like school so I just stay home."

Now the three boys just seemed speechless. Will still felt disappointed that Nico couldn't come back over to his house that day but decided that it would be for the best to get Nico back home, after all they had snuck him out of the house and even though his dad wouldn't be home anytime soon he didn't want him to get in trouble, or worse, get even sicker than he was.

"Okay I'll walk you home. But maybe we can hang out again tomorrow?" he really hoped Nico would say yes.

"Sounds like fun." Nico said as he smiled while looking at his feet. Then he looked up to say goodbye to the new friends that he met today. "See you guys, I had a lot of fun. Thank you."

Leo who finally was able to think straight again nodded. "I'll walk you guys to the door." The other two waved goodbye to them before they went on their way to Percy's and after Leo went back inside Will and Nico started on their way back to Nico's house when Will stopped and crouched down before Nico again like he had done earlier that day.

"How about a victory ride home to your castle _fair princess_?" he said smiling back at Nico.

"I thought you said that you were going to stop calling me that _Sir William."_ Nico said trying not to laugh but not really succeeding.

Will shrugged. "That was just during our card battles, but now this _noble knight_ must escort the _fair princess_ back home again after their adventure."

Nico still wasn't sure. "But isn't this why you gave me shoes? So that I could walk on my own?"

Will smiled. "Yeah but isn't this more fun?"

Nico couldn't argue with that. "Okay you win."

Will laughed. "Finally!" they both laughed as Will rose up carrying Nico on his back and started running to Nico's while Nico kept his arms wrapped around Wills shoulders this time.

Once they reached the tree Will set Nico down while he caught his breath. "You know that might just be the best workout ever, maybe if we keep doing that I can try out for the track team at school!"

Nico laughed and shook his head at his friend. "Hey Will?" Will looked at Nico waiting for him to continue. "We're friends right?" Will nodded. "And those guys are our friends too right?" Will nodded again and Nico smiled sweetly. "I think you're my best friend then."

Will smiled too. "I sure hope so; it would be kind of a downer if after one day one of those goofballs replaced me as your best friend." They laughed again.

"Okay up we go, do you want to go first?"

Nico looked at the tree. "Sure, why not." he began climbing and when he had reached the branch Will always sat on Will followed suit.

After Will had made sure that Nico had made it safely into his room he took out his walkie-talkie to say good night. He pressed down on the button. "Goodnight _Fair princess_ , sweet dreams!" he was about to leave when he heard a reply. "Goodnight _noble knight_ , you too." he looked up to see Nico looking out his window, face slightly pink. When he turned away Will climbed down the tree and walked home with a huge smile on his face.

 **Chapter 4 everybody! The longest one yet woohoo!**

 **I've played a lot of card games so I wasn't sure how to word things for this one but I hope it was alright.**

 **I hope that there are no problems with the time jumps in this story, in case you guys are wondering Nico and Will are 12-13 because I wasn't really specific in the begining with the time of year just that Minos and Nico where traveling around for the better part of a year and that when the accident had happened Nico was 10. The age differences remain the same as in the books though.**

 **And if anyone was wondering, the girls will be making an appearance later on in the story; so don't worry.**

 **I keep wanting at some point -maybe later on- to have someone say "I've seen this movie!" because I just love that line.**

 **Story time: during the winter some friends and I were driving along the highway outside of town to ooh and aah at the new farm houses that had been built when we turned off the highway onto a dirt road and got stuck in the ditch and there were no lights, no cars, no nearby houses, just trees, snow, and open fields and we all just sat there for a moment stunned when suddenly I just had to speak "I've seen this movie!" and was met with a chorus of " _Shut up!"_ Good times, good times. XD**


	5. Chapter 5 A walk in the park

**Well I just needed some happy fluffy cuteness or whatever in here so here we go, I hope you like it.**

 **Chapter 5 A walk in the park**

The next day Will came back around lunch time with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and called up to Nico. "Hey Nico! You there?" he waited a moment before a reply came.

"Hey Will! Are we going to card battle again?"

Will smiled at the eagerness he heard in Nico's question. "Actually I thought that if you're feeling up to it maybe we could go to the park and have a picnic, you've never had one right?"

There was a pause while Nico seemed to think about it. "I guess that would be okay, I've been feeling better lately, and I can't remember ever having a picnic or even being to a park so I'd really like to go! Just let me grab the shoes you gave me."

Will slid the bag off of his shoulder. "I'll help you climb down like yesterday, I'll be right up." With that he started climbing the tree to his usually branch outside of Nico's bedroom window, when he got there Nico was opening the window and starting to edge out onto the tree branch so Will held out his hand for him to keep him from falling. "Same as yesterday, I'll climb down first and you follow when I'm at the bottom so that I can be there to catch you if I have to."

Now that he didn't have to climb down with bare feet Nico was doing better and didn't have to worry about splinters in his feet.

Once they were on the ground Will picked up his backpack again and smiled at Nico. "Come on I'll show you the way to the park, it'll be like we're going on a quest!"

Nico smiled remembering their conversation yesterday about heroes and adventures. "As long as you don't start calling me _fair princess_ again."

Will laughed. "Nope that's just for when it's just you and me, what would this _noble knight_ do if someone else stole away his _fair princess_ he rescued from the tower?" he said all this in a really dramatic voice and they both laughed as they walked on.

Today Will let Nico walk on his own so that he could get used to it, besides it was farther to the park than it was to his house so he would have a hard time running while carrying Nico and the bag with their picnic supplies in it.

…

Once they got to the park Will led Nico over to where the trees were and set out the blanket he had in his backpack in the shade and started pulling out the food he had brought. There where juice boxes, fruit cups, crackers and cheese, turkey sandwiches, and granola bars, he wasn't sure what Nico liked or even what he normally ate so he just packed what he figured would be good for someone who's normally sick, some healthy choices and things that would help give him some energy.

Nico looked at the food in wonder, it was different from the prepared meals his dad always left for him and he couldn't wait to try them.

They sat in the shade under the tree while they ate their lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day. Even though it wasn't a large meal the food had been delicious and Nico was really enjoying having a picnic with Will in the park. He never would have imagined that he would be able to do something like this. Thanks to Will he was finally beginning to feel like a regular kid.

When they had finished their lunch they sat in the shade of the tree for a while and talked about everything and nothing at all, it felt good to be able to just speak freely to the other while sitting side by side like this. They both find it fun to have such a good friend to talk to and that they could tell anything to.

"Hey I know that you are normally sick and all but my dad told me that fresh air and physical activity can help people recover better so I thought we could play catch with a Frisbee or something, I brought a few things from home." Will reaches over and grabs his backpack and starts pulling out a few toys, there's a yellow Frisbee, a big red ball, a baseball and a couple of mitts, and of course his cards.

Nico's face lit up at the sight of everything.

"Just in case you weren't up for the physical activity I thought I'd bring my cards along too." Will explained.

Nico looked at the selection, of course he had wanted to battle with Will again but the idea of tossing a ball or Frisbee back and forth or kicking around a ball was even better!

Nico picks up the baseball and one of the mitts. "How about catch?"

Will smiles and nods. "Works for me!" He grabs the other mitt and they find a good place to start tossing the ball back and forth. "My dad and I would do this a lot as I was growing up but he's really busy with work these days so we don't get to come to the park much anymore just to have fun like this." Will tells Nico, a look of nostalgia on his face as he tosses the ball back to Nico.

"That sounds great; I wish I had memories like that with my dad."

Will starts to worry that he shouldn't have brought up happy memories with his dad knowing that Nico lost most of his earlier memories and his dad is almost always gone. "Sorry I shouldn't have brought it up. But hey! We're making happy memories here and now together right?" he smiled hoping to lift the other boys' spirits. It must have worked because Nico smiled back.

"Yeah, I'm glad you brought me here today."

As they started distancing themselves from each other to see how far they could throw they hear someone call out to Will.

"Hey Will!"

They look over to see a boy around Percy's age or so waving as he approached.

Will smiled when he recognised him. "Hey Frank! How's it going? I haven't seen you since camp!"

Nico couldn't help noticing that Will had a lot of friends.

"I'm good, are you going to camp this year? We could really use you in archery." Frank said a little out of breath as he had run over to them when he recognized Will.

"Yup, but I don't know how long I'll be at camp this year, I kind of want to spend more time with my friend Nico here." he said as he gestured to Nico as way of introduction.

Frank smiled and waved a little. "Why doesn't he come to camp too? They're always happy to have more kids join up."

But Nico was shaking his head. "I can't, I get sick easily so I don't even go to school. I don't think my dad would let me go to camp."

Frank looked a little crest fallen at that. "Sorry to hear that, it's really fun to go to camp in the summer and make new friends."

Nico really wished he could go to camp too, it did sound fun and he'd watched movies and read books where kids had a lot of fun at summer camp, but he knew his father would never let him go. "It's okay, I'm used to it. A least I have Will to hang out with."

Will looked proud to hear that. "Hey frank why don't you join us? Nico doesn't get out much so I brought him to the park to have fun today, it would be better if more people joined in, right Nico?"

Nico nodded. He was getting to meet a lot of people through Will.

"Sure, what would you guys like to do?" Frank asked.

Will looked at Nico and noticed that he seemed a little flushed so maybe they should go back to the shade. "How good are you at Mytho Magic?"

Franks face lit up. "I love that game! I play it whenever I get the chance!"

Will looked at Nico. "What do you say Nico, want to show Frank how awesome you are at the game?"

Nico smiled. "Sure."

 **Okay that's Chapter 5, we will continue with the happy friendship in the next chapter and then we are in for a bumpy ride so brace yourselves!**


	6. Chapter 6 Come in

**Ch.6 Come in**

 **Thank you all for liking this story, I'm glad it has so many followers**

The time had gotten away from them, they had sat in the shade of the trees for a good three hours playing and talking about their favorite cards and strategies with Nico doing much of the talking.

Frank looks down at his watch to check the time and sees that it's getting late. "Oh wow you guys, I should really get going or else my grandma might get worried, and when she gets worried she tends to yell. I'll see you again sometime, nice to meet you Nico, see you."

They said their goodbyes and watched as Frank hurried off then they packed up the things that Will had brought deciding it was time to head back as well.

Will looked up at the sky knowing that it was getting late, he had never thought that their picnic and day in the park would go so long and as much fun as they had had he should really get Nico home soon since he wasn't used to being out for so long.

"Well I guess we should get you home." he was a bit reluctant to end their day here but knew that it was for the best, some fresh air would do the other boy some good but being out for too long might make whatever he had worse.

Nico nodded and stood up to stretch, they had spent so long lounging under the trees that they were both a bit stiff, his legs were about to fall asleep.

When they were both ready Will slung his backpack on and led the way back to Nico's house. Because it was still considered a haunted house by many and Nico leaving the house was supposed to be a secret they looked around before heading over to the tree and climbed up to Nico's window.

Like before, Will helped him in but instead of leaving right away Will paused when Nico spoke up.

"Hey Will?"

He looked at the other boy from his perch. "Yeah Nico?"

Nico seemed to be thinking something over like he wasn't sure how to ask whatever question he had started. "Would you… would you like to come in?"

Wills face lit up instantly. "Sure!"

Will inched his way towards the window and held onto Nico's hand as he helped him climb in. Will had seen the inside of Nico's room before, but only from the outside, this was the first time he had ever set foot inside, and he realized that it was the first time anyone besides Nico or his dad had ever set foot inside it before. He felt strangely honored by it.

As he looked around he saw that Nico's room was very neat and orderly, the bed was made, the shelves of books were organized, as well as his games, his toys were all stored in a bin in the corner, and the only things on his night stand were an alarm clock and his Mytho Magic deck. Will momentarily wondered where Nico kept his walkie-talkie, since his dad didn't know he had it he must have it hidden.

"Wow you really keep your room clean; my mom would probably cry tears of joy if my room looked like this." Nico blushed at the praise; Will figured it was because he didn't receive very much of it.

"My dad told me to always keep my room clean; I also help clean the rest of the house too."

Will looked around the room again. "You know most parents would love to have a kid like you. I don't mind helping around the house but I still need to be told a few times before I clean my room." he laughed thinking about how annoyed his mom gets.

"So would you like to play a game or something?" Nico went over to his game shelf looking for something they could take turns on since he had no need for two player games.

"Sure that sounds great!" Will said as he fallowed Nico over to take a look. He skimmed the selection until his eyes landed on one he had been dying to play. "How about this one?" he pointed to it and Nico picked it up and looked at it.

"Okay sure, do you want to go first?" he asked but Will shook his head.

"That's okay, I've never played before, you go first so I can see how it's done then I'll go next."

Nico took the game over to his t.v. and game system to get it set up. "Okay."

They ended up playing for another two hours loosing track of the time until Nico's alarm went off _. **Beep**_ **_beep, beep beep._** Will looked up after hitting pause as he tried to figure out what the sound was. "What was that?"

Nico got up and went over to his night stand to turn off the alarm. "It's my dinner alarm; dad has me eating on a schedule. He says it helps me get better."

Will could understand that, his dad was a doctor and knew that eating at regular times tended to help keep people healthy. "That makes sense I guess."

Nico seemed to be thinking something over again. "Um, would you like to stay for dinner? My dad leaves me meals while he's gone and since we had a picnic today I still have extra, you can have some if you want to. You don't have to though, it's up to you."

Will did feel hungry and he was sure his parents wouldn't mind him staying for dinner at a friend's house as long as he didn't stay out too late. "Sounds great!"

They made their way down stairs and to the kitchen, as they went Will couldn't help noticing the lack of photos and other homely items, unlike his house where there were so many family photos and art works hanging on the wall Nico's house seemed really blank.

Before he could stop himself the words were out of his mouth. "How come the walls are so bare?" then his face heated up in embarrassment. "Sorry, that was rude wasn't it?"

Nico didn't seem bothered by it though. "Dad doesn't like photos, he says they are pointless and take up too much space."

Will couldn't help feeling that this must be really sad considering Nico had no memories from before two years ago and now he was telling him that he didn't even have pictures to help him remember. Will made up his mind then and there that he would bring a camera next time so that they could have pictures of all of the fun times they'll have together.

Nico led the way into the kitchen and took out the two meals from the fridge and heated them up for them.

Will was wondering if he should call home and let his parents know that he would be home later when something else caught his attention. "You don't have a phone." It wasn't a question, but again Nico didn't seem bothered by it.

"Dad says we don't need one, he has a cell phone so there's no need for a house phone, we don't have cable either just movies."

Will was shocked by this, it's not like they couldn't afford it he was sure, after all Nico had all those cool game systems and toys that his dad always got for him. "So you don't watch t.v.?"

Nico just shook his head in reply and went to get their dinner.

When he brought it over Will couldn't help the growl his stomach let out when he smelled the food, it looked so good. "Do you always eat like this?"

Nico nodded as he sat down at the table as well. "Dad always makes my food, when he's going to be away he keeps enough in the fridge or freezer, all I have to do is wash up after."

They talked about their game while they ate and how much fun they had had today, and tried to come up with other things to do next time. When they were finished Will insisted on helping clean up, after that they were both getting tired so they decided to call it a night, it had been a long day after all. They went back upstairs and Will climbed his way out the window and down the tree, once at the bottom he used his walkie-talkie to call up to Nico.

"I'll come back tomorrow with a surprise, good night _fair princess."_ he heard quiet laughter on the other end before Nico replied.

"Alright, good night _noble knight_."

Will smiled and made his way home.

 **And there's chapter 6! What do you guys think so far? I'm glad people really like this one and thank you to everyone who has sent in a review you really make me happy and I love hearing what you think of this.**


	7. Chapter 7 Picture perfect!

**Thank you for the 4000+ views on this story!**

 **Ch.7 Picture perfect**

Will got home late that night and explained to his parents that he had been out with his friend all day and he had planned on calling home but his friend didn't have a working phone but he promised not to stay out so late again, then he went upstairs and got ready for bed, after the long day he had had, he was feeling more tired than usual.

…

The next morning Will woke up feeling a little groggy but got out of bed to get ready for the day. Tomorrow Nico's dad came home so they couldn't play together for a while after today and Will was planning on making it as memorable as he could.

The first thing on his list was to find his camera so that Nico could finally have photographs of his own. Will dug around in his closet until he found the camera and made sure that there were batteries inside so that it worked and also checked to be sure that they were not dead. There wouldn't be much point if the camera didn't even work right?

Next he looked for the limited edition Mytho Magic figure that he had gotten for his last birthday, he just knew that Nico would want to see it. So once again he rummaged through his closet, Will wondered if he'd had his room as neat as Nico's, if he would be able to find the figurine faster. Finally he found it and placed it in his backpack then went down stairs for breakfast.

He ate his breakfast as fast as he could and told his parents that he was going to his friend's house again today.

"The one without the phone?" his father asked.

"Yup, that one." said Will, he had of course told his parents about his new friend but didn't tell them his name or where he lived, after all it was still a secret that Nico was the supposed ghost that lived in the _haunted house_ at the end of the neighborhood that everyone avoided. Luckily Wills parents trusted him enough not to pry into his life for every little detail and trusted him to make good decisions on his own.

"Alright but take my cell with you this time so that we can know if you'll be out late again." His dad said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and passed it to Will who put it in his backpack with everything else.

"Thanks! I promise to call before coming home, don't worry!" and with that he sped off from the house and made his way over to Nico's house.

…

When Will got to the house next to Nico's he did his usual sweep of the area so that he could be sure that no one would see him climbing the tree to crawl in through the third floor window. After he was sure that the coast was clear he secured his backpack and started climbing. Once he got to his usual branch he pulled out his walkie-talkie and called Nico. "Hey Nico! Open up, I've got a couple of surprizes for you!" he watched as the curtains were drawn back and Nico opened his Window.

"Surprizes?" he asked as he helped Will climb in through the window.

Nico closed the window once Will was inside and watched as he took off his backpack and set it on the floor and pulled out the camera to show Nico.

"Check it out! I found my camera; I thought we could take some photos so that you can finally have your own!" he grinned as he showed Nico how it worked, "This is how you turn it on, and this is how you take pictures." he handed the camera to Nico so that he could try it out. Nico stood back and pointed the camera at Will.

"Smile!" he said and Will's grin grew into a bright smile. After Nico took the photo he handed the camera back to Will and he showed Nico how to view the photos.

"Not bad for your fist try!"

Nico felt proud of himself. "Why don't you take a picture of me too?" he asked.

"Sure!" Will said as he went back to picture mode. "Stand over there and give me a big smile!"

Nico did as directed and Will took the picture then showed it to Nico. "There, what do you think?" he asked as Nico examined the Picture.

"My smile isn't as good as yours." Nico said as he compared the two pictures they had just taken.

"That's okay, we'll just have to take more pictures so that you can get better is all." Will said reassuringly making Nico laugh.

"Okay."

Will looked down at his backpack remembering what else he had brought along. "Oh and I brought something else too!"

Nico leaned in closer wanting to see what it could be and his face lit up when he saw Will bring out a Mytho Magic figurine. "Is that Hades?" he asked excitedly and Will nodded.

"Yup! I got him for my last birthday in a limited edition set, he's usually really hard to find." Will said matching Nico's enthusiasm.

"I have almost everyone but I haven't been able to find Hades yet." Nico said as he held up the figurine to get a better look at it, then a look passed over his face that Will couldn't quite place but it was gone as soon as it had appeared so Will didn't focus on it too much.

"I also have my deck from last time so how about a battle?" Will asked and Nico happily agreed.

"Okay!" Nico went over to his nightstand to get his own deck and they set up on the floor by the closet so that they could stretch out while they played.

…

Of course Nico won every battle but on the fifth one Will was finally winning and he was so proud to finally have the upper hand against Nico.

"Just a couple more moves and you could actually beat me this time Will." Nico said as he looked at the cards in play.

"Oh I know I'm going to beat you this time so watch out!" Will laughed Just as he was getting ready to play his next card though they heard the front door downstairs close and they both froze.

"My dad's home! Quick hide, he would be mad if he found you here!" Nico and Will grabbed Will's backpack and the walkie-talkies and threw them into the closet and Will jumped in too and hid behind a stack of boxes while Nico closed the door and rearranged the cards they had been playing with to make it look like he was just making new strategies like always.

When the bedroom door opened Nico's dad stood there and Nico was glad that the window was closed and that there was no trace that Will had been there, his breath hitched as he saw the Hades figurine sitting next to him where he had placed it when they had started their game, he quickly hid it in his pocket as his dad walked in. "Hello dad, you're home early. Was work okay?" he greeted his dad like he usually did so that he wouldn't be suspicious.

"Work was fine, have you had your lunch yet?"

Nico shook his head. "Not yet."

Inside the closet Will watched Nico talk with his dad, Will was surprized by the lack of family resemblance between them but didn't really think too much about it. Will's Heart nearly leapt out of his chest as his dad's cell phone beeped letting him know there was a new text but luckily at that moment Nico's alarm clock went off letting him know it was time for lunch and Will sent out a silent prayer that it had covered the sound of the cell phone.

"I guess it's time for lunch now, will we be eating together?" Nico asked his dad, his own heart beating faster in his chest because he had heard the sound of Will's phone but luckily his dad hadn't.

"No, I just came home to pick something up, I'll be home later so be sure to clean up after you've had your lunch." he looked at the cards on the floor. "And remember to pick those up when you're done with them."

Nico nodded. "I will."

With that Nico's dad left the room closing the door behind him as he went. Once the sound of footsteps had faded away Nico breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down to start to sort through the cards on the floor and picking out Will's for him. They waited a few more minutes until they heard the front door close again signaling that his dad had left and then Nico opened the closet door and let Will out.

"That was really close." Will said. Nico passed him his deck so that he could put it away and Will put his walkie-talkie back in his backpack as well. "I guess I'll go home then, since we don't really know when your dad will come back." Will said and Nico nodded reluctantly.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." he reached into his pocket and brought out Will's Hades figurine and tried to hand it back to him but Will just smiled and shook his head.

"You keep it; think of it as a sort of good luck charm." he wished he had his camera out when he saw the smile that lit up Nico's face then. "I'll see you next time, and the next time we battle I'll be the winner for sure!" Will said as he went the window.

"We'll see about that!" Nico said as he helped Will back out onto the tree branch and watched him climb down, it had become so easy for him to climb up and down that tree and Nico kind of envied him for that, he still worried that he might slip and fall but at least Will was always at the bottom to catch him. "Goodbye _Noble knight_ see you next time." Nico called down once Will had reached the ground, Will looked up and waved.

"Goodbye _Fair princess_ until we meet again!" and then he did a dramatic bow and they both laughed. Nico closed the window and the curtains and Will headed home for lunch.

On the way home Will wondered if maybe Leo would be up to hanging out today and maybe they could have a battle now that his skills had improved. Will made sure to cross the street and slightly alter his rout home to make sure that no one would figure out that he had been at the _haunted house_.

Will didn't notice the driver of the black car that sat around the corner the next block down but luckily for him the driver hadn't noticed him either.

 **Duh duh duh! I couldn't resist sorry XD**

 **So what do you think about the close call there? I'm hoping to have more involving Minos coming up soon in case anyone was wondering. I'm so glad so many people like this story and I'm sorry I took so long updating but here you are!**


	8. Chapter 8 Forgotten past

**Ch.8 Forgotten past**

 **Had to search the web for treatments for memory loss for this chapter. As for any parts involving the types of drugs Minos uses to basically control Nico I'm just making things up as I go because I'm kind of paranoid about having something like that in my search history. I hope things make sense anyway.**

For the next Week after that Will went to school for the last few days before summer vacation. He had been so busy making sure that he had all of his homework completed that he hadn't been able to go see if Nico was able to play.

Will sat in his room and looked at the pictures he and Nico had taken the last time he was over there. Nico had looked so happy during their card battle that Will just had to take pictures of it. He saw that Nico had taken a couple of him when he wasn't looking as well, then he saw the picture of the two of them that they had taken after Will had shown Nico the timer setting. Will couldn't stop smiling as he looked through the photos on the camera.

"Will time for dinner!" his mom called from downstairs.

"Okay, be right down!" he called back then turned off the camera and set it down on his bed before heading down for dinner. As they sat at the table to eat Will's parents talked about work, his dad was talking about a recent car crash victim that had come through emergency.

"It looked worse than it was but he still came out of it with a nasty concussion. But I'm sure that he'll get through it okay, he's pretty young too, maybe 16 or 17."

Will usually tried to pay attention when his parents talked but his mind kept wondering and he only caught bits here and there but when his mom spoke next she had his attention.

"I hope it doesn't leave any lasting effects, head injuries can be so unpredictable right? I hope it doesn't affect him too much."

Will's dad shook his head. "The tests came back and aside from the slight concussion there's nothing to worry about like memory loss or anything."

Will looked over to his dad. "Hey dad is there any way to help someone who does have memory loss?"

Will's dad thought it over at him surprised by the sudden question but thought about it. "Well it would really depend on the type of memory loss and what caused it, sometimes it can be temporary and the person will recover after a short amount of time but in other cases if the trauma is too much the mind may have repressed any memories linked to the cause of the trauma and that could last longer and be more difficult to recover from."

He paused and Will waited for him to continue, he paid close attention to everything his dad said.

"Personal effects such as toys or photographs may help them to remember, but it is best not to over stimulate their brain with too much information at a time because the memory loss will cause confusion and this can result in physical pain like headaches if it gets to be too much for them."

Will sat quietly for the rest of dinner while he thought over what his dad had said and wondered how he could help Nico regain his memories.

…

Later that evening Will was looking through his camera again trying to think of a way that the pictures might somehow help Nico get his memories back, he wondered if maybe the Hades figurine would help somehow. Nico had had a strange look on his face when he had first seen it, now that Will thought about it maybe that look was recognition…

Will stood up and went downstairs to grab a drink from the kitchen and as he passed the living room the news story on the t.v. stopped him cold in his tracks near the bottom of the stairs.

" ** _As the summer gets underway we would like to remind people of the story of Nico di Angelo._**

 ** _Two years ago the young boy had been in a terrible car accident where his mother and older sister were killed, 10 year old Nico had been deemed unresponsive upon arrival of first responders and rushed to hospital immediately. Records said that after slipping into a coma young Nico succumbed to his injuries and passed away shortly after._**

 ** _When Hades di Angelo, the boy's father had arrived at the hospital to claim the bodies of his family it was discovered that the records were falsified and that his son was missing and the case became a missing persons investigation. The amber alert still remains in effect, though little hope remains of now 12 year old Nico di Angelo returning home alive and well it is small, his father still offers a reward to any with information about the whereabouts of his missing son_** _."_

Will stood transfixed as he saw the images appear on screen of the missing boy. A happy child with a sweet smile laughing and playing with a girl slightly older that bore a striking resemblance to him with the name Nico di Angelo below the images.

"It's terrible what happened to that boy. I hope that he's still alive, I know it's rare for these cases to end with a happy ending but after all that family has lost I really hope father and son can be reunited again after so long." Will's mother said.

"They said that members of the medical team were involved with the disappearance and fake reports, I can't believe anyone would sink so low as to fake the death of a child." Will's dad said, disgust clear in his voice.

"There was never any word of a ransom demand right? I just can't imagine why someone would go to such lengths and not come forward wanting money or something. They must have had some reason to take this boy." Will's mother said.

"I don't try to even pretend to understand the mind of a lunatic; they have their own ideas of how the world works that only makes sense to them. It's just horrible that they would involve a child in whatever scheme they have going on." Will's dad said.

Will turned around quietly and ran back to his room and turned on his computer and searched up the news story and any information connected to it, he held his camera up to the monitor as he compared the images, his heart hammering away in his chest.

"They match… It is Nico!" he said almost breathlessly. He looked at the news articles about the crash and grabbed a notebook and started writing down whatever information he could about it and the di Angelo family that he could find. He printed out articles from newspapers and whatever photos he could find that he thought might be useful and put them in-between the pages of the notebook and grabbed his camera and threw them into his backpack, he still had his walkie-talkie in there and he had his dad's cell phone as well.

There was no time to lose so Will threw on his backpack and knowing that his parents wouldn't agree to him leaving the house so late he decided to climb out his bedroom window, it was on the second floor but he could do it if he reached the tree outside just like he did at Nico's.

He couldn't tell his parents about what he had just discovered because they would want to call the police and if his dad was right and the man claiming to be Nico's dad really was a lunatic or some kind of psycho, then he might hurt Nico if the police stormed in so he would just have to go in himself and try to convince Nico that he wasn't safe there and get him out. Once they had gotten away safe then maybe Will's dad could help Nico with his memories and the police could get the bad guy.

Will opened his window and edged out slowly as he climbed out carefully to the tree outside, despite having done this many times before at Nico's he had never actually done this at his own house so things were a bit shaky at first but he managed to get to the ground safely and from there he ran as fast as he could over to Nico's.

He would get him out of there even if he had to carry him on his back the whole way.

 **Dramatic enough for you yet? Well there's more to come, Mwahahaha! Anyway what do you think so far? I tried my best to come up with medical information on the whole memory loss thing and looked into Post Traumatic Amnesia because that seemed to be what I was using here, anyway I was kind of making things up to begin with that made sense to the story but felt I needed actual information on it so if you want to look into it that's what the condition is called PTA for short. The things I've put in here might not be the most accurate but like I said that's because I was just making things up for the sake of the story.**

 **Please review**


	9. Chapter 9 So close

**Ch.9 So close**

 **I hope this chapter is suspenseful or exciting enough for you guys, things are finally falling into place! The truth is out!**

Will reached the house next to Nico's and hid behind the fence, he saw the porch light come on and a person appear in the doorway so he ducked down again and watched through the space between the boards as Nico's fake dad left the house, locking the front door behind him, and headed to the car sitting in the driveway.

Will waited until the car pulled out of the driveway and hid behind the bush next to him as the car went by, not wanting to risk being seen despite it being dark out. He watched as the car reached the end of the street and turned the corner and waited until the count of ten before rising from his hiding spot and running to the tree and started climbing as fast as he could.

Once Will got to his usual branch he pulled off his backpack and used his walkie-talkie to try to get Nico's attention.

"Nico! Can you hear me? If you're there open your window right away, please!" Maybe it was the note of urgency in his voice, maybe it was that fact that he had never come over after dark before but instantly Nico had come to the window and opened it to let Will inside.

"Will, why are you here so late?"

Will got to his feet and took Nico's hand so he could help him climb out. "We have to get you out of here, quick before your dad comes back!" but Nico didn't budge, he was really confused with what Will was saying.

"Will what's going on? Why are you here so late?" he tried again to figure out what was happening.

Will grit his teeth knowing they likely didn't have much time. "Nico, Please this is an emergency! You're not safe here so we need to go now!" Will tried again to pull Nico over to the window knowing it was their only way out.

"What do you mean not safe? My dad just left but he'll be back later." Nico said still confused.

Will wanted to stomp his feet and throw a tantrum like a toddler but knew there wasn't time for that. "Nico he's not even your real dad, here I can prove it!" at Nico's shocked expression Will pulled off his backpack and took out the notebook with the news articles and information he had gotten from the internet and handed them to Nico along with the camera so that he could compare the photos from the news to the ones they had taken yesterday.

Nico stood there in silence as he looked at the information on the crash and the amber alerts, the two yearlong missing persons case, the articles on Hades di Angelo and the suspected sightings of Nico after the abduction two years earlier.

Nico started shaking as he read everything over, tears started to run down his cheeks and he reached up and placed a hand to his head as though it was in pain.

Wills dad had said that you shouldn't overstimulate a person with amnesia with too much information because it could manifest itself as physical pain but this was an emergency and he needed Nico to co-operate with him so that they could get him out of here.

"I asked my dad how you help people with memory loss and he told me that things from before they lost their memory could help, and before I came here I saw the news and they were talking about a kid that had been missing for two years after a car accident Nico, it's you they are looking for, I just know it! That guy that claims to be your dad is the one who took you! We need to get you someplace safe then we can call the cops on him and then he can't hurt you!"

Nico looked at Will, he still had tears in his eyes. "I don't understand… what's going on Will?"

Before Will could respond though the bedroom door opened and in stepped Minos, both boys froze in place when they saw him but Will managed to find his voice soon enough.

"B-but but I saw you leave!"

He was answered by a cold laugh as though Minos found it funny how easily children could be tricked. "A decoy, you didn't really think I'd leave the house completely unguarded this close to the anniversary did you?" he laughed once more when he saw the confused looks on both of their faces.

"I set up surveillance systems in the area so that I could be alerted to any activity and what do you think I saw? Hmm? Some neighborhood brat sneaking around trespassing, climbing my tree and sneaking into my home? Watching my house to see when I was away, of course it would gain my attention. Kids are so simple minded, you leave them to their own devices and you see the trouble they get themselves into?" he let out a dramatic sigh and shook his head, "You're lucky I didn't report you to the authorities, I'd have every right to of course." He said lightly.

Will tried to argue but was cut off.

"And if you tried to tell them anything I would just deny it and tell them that you were too caught up in the urban legend about my home being haunted and press charges."

Will paled as he realized that the police were more likely to believe the home owner over some kid caught doing something illegal who most likely would say anything to get out of getting into trouble.

"And with the news stories going around what better excuse could you use to try and get their attention?"

"T-they would have checked!" Will said but Minos just smiled cruelly at him.

"Maybe but by the time the police were involved I could have had him moved." He looked at Nico coldly, no hint of kindness, false or otherwise could be found in that stare. "You should have done as I said and kept the windows shut, did you really think I wouldn't hear the rumors of someone being seen in the top floor window? I'm sure that's what brought your little friend here to begin with."

Nico was visibly trembling now, his eyes wide as he stared at Minos, too scared to respond.

"But now that the cat is out of the bag it looks like it's time for a change in scenery, and your little friend here gets to join us, isn't that exciting?" Minos said in a light voice with a smile on his face but it never reached his cold eyes.

"Come on Nico, it's time for your medicine." Minos stepped closer to the petrified boy holding out a couple of sleeping pills but Will stepped in his way blocking Nico from him.

"Stay away from him!" he turned to Nico trying to implore him to escape. "Go to the window while I hold him back!"

Nico seemed to snap out of his shock and nodded mutely but as he moved towards the window only a few feet behind him Minos grabbed Will and held him in a choke hold cutting off Will's air and lifting him off the ground as he struggled.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, do as you are told and take your medicine. Now." Minos said and there was no false cheerfulness in his voice now, no fake smile, just cold eyes and clear intent to hurt Will if Nico didn't do what he was told.

Nico swallowed around the fear choking him and slowly walked closer towards Minos and with a shaky hand took the pills from him while looking at Will as he tried to pries himself away from Minos' hold. "Please don't hurt him." Nico said in a small voice, too scared to speak any louder.

"He won't be hurt if you do as you are told." Minos said and watched as Nico closed his eyes and swallowed the pills, as usual the effects were almost instantaneous and Minos watched as Nico crumpled to the ground, he then let Will drop to the floor gasping for air as he lay there close to Nico.

"You should have minded your own business; you see where snooping around gets you? I hope you kissed you mommy and daddy goodnight before you came here, because you're never going to see them again."

Will's heart raced in his chest after seeing Nico fall to the ground and as he listened to Minos tell him that he's never see his parents again he wanted to cry because he hadn't said a word to them since he left the dinner table that evening, they would never find him just like no one had found Nico!

Will wished he had called the police when he saw the car pull around the corner, or left a note for his parents telling them where he had gone so late, but it was too late for any of that now. Will's thoughts came to a stop when he felt something sharp pierce his neck and then everything went dark.

 **Well? I really hope what I wrote is believable because I know nothing about drugs and what affects they might have that could put someone to sleep so I hope this is okay.**

 **Am I a horrible person?**

 **Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10 Not close enough

**Ch. 10 Not close enough**

 **So I grew up watching all sorts of crime, investigation, forensic, and medical shows and I'm using what I can remember from those to BS my way through this story, is it working? Thank you everyone who has reached this point in the story! You make me so happy! (^_^) Hugs for everyone!**

Minos had left the car parked behind the house in the back alley where no one would notice it. He placed the unconscious form of Will in the backseat and laid a couple of blankets over him to hide him from sight and placed a few pillows and other items that would be used for a trip to the cabin back there as well so that no one would see the child laying there.

Then he threw the kids backpack in the trunk with a box of supplies he was taking along, he'd have to find a safe place to dump the bag later.

Lastly he placed Nico in the passenger's seat and wrapped a blanket around him to make appear as though he had fallen asleep during a long car ride. He made sure that everything was arranged just right then he got in the car and drove off into the night leaving the house behind them.

…

Back at Will's house as his parents were getting ready to turn in for the night his mom stopped off at his room to say goodnight, the news story about the missing child had taken its toll on the both of them, it was every parent's worst nightmare to find out that their child was missing or dead.

As Wills mother got to his bedroom door she noticed that the light was still on and wondered if he had forgotten to turn it off before falling asleep, she opened the door quietly in case he was asleep and didn't want to wake him. She looked at the bed but saw that it was empty, she looked around the room but Will wasn't there.

She heard the sound of water running in the bathroom but when the door opened it was her husband who was standing there. He looked at her and saw the look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

She looked down the hall and then back at her husband. "Did you see Will go downstairs?" she asked but he shook his head.

"I just finished turning off the lights down there, I didn't see him."

He was clearly confused by her sudden question so she explained what had prompted it. "He's not in his room." she said her face starting to lose its color as the words left her mouth; her husband ran to the stairs and called down.

"Will?" then when there was no answer he went downstairs and she could hear him calling for their son.

"Will?" still no response, "WILL!"

She went into the room and looked around and her eyes fell upon the open window and her heart lurched inside her chest. "HONEY!" she screamed and her husband came running and all she could do was raise a shaking finger to point to the open window and he ran over and looked outside but the night was quiet and still.

There was no sign of Will out there at all.

"Call the police." he said as he stepped away from the window. His wife was shaking as she stood in place with tears in her eyes.

"The sooner we have them here the sooner we can find him." She nodded and left the room to go use the phone.

…

Red and blue lights flashed in the street outside the house and neighbors that had been woken up by the sounds of police sirens now stood outside wondering what had happened.

Leo stood at the door with his parents as they watched Will's parents talking with one of the officers outside.

"What's going on?" Leo asked wondering why the cops were next door. His mom wrapped her arms around his shoulders protectively, drawing him closer to her.

"The boy next door is missing, it seems his parents went to check on him before bed and found the window open and him missing."

Leo felt like the world had tilted under his feet. "Wills missing?!" _How could that be?_

"The police are trying to figure out if he left voluntarily or was taken from his room, a little difficult since it's on the second floor, but still doable. No one heard or saw a thing so there's no leads to go on."

Leo felt like he was going to be sick, summer vacation had just started and he and Will had been talking about all of the things they had planned for camp that year, now Will had disappeared without a trace. It was like something off of tv that you never really thought would actually happen for real, defiantly not to someone you knew.

The officer that had been inside investigating Will's room came back with sheets of paper in his hand, Leo stepped away from his mom so that he could hear what they were saying.

"… on your son's computer, these where the last things he printed out. Do you have any idea why?" The officer asked as he handed the pages to Will's parents and Leo caught a glimpse of a dark haired kid in one of the pictures.

"Is that Nico?" he asked and they all turned to look at him, not having noticed him until he spoke.

"You mean the missing boy?" one of the officers asked him, probably wondering who this kid was.

"Nico's gone missing too?!" Leo asked shocked. Now his parents had come over too and all of the grown-ups were looking at him.

"This is Nico di Angelo, he's been missing for two years, he was abducted from Los Angeles two years ago. Have you seen him?" one of the officers asked directing all of their attention to Leo now.

"Yeah… he was hanging out with Will." Leo said, he couldn't understand what was going on, first Will has a new friend that's home schooled and none of them had ever seen him before, then Will goes missing and now they're trying to tell him that Nico had been kidnapped two years ago? What if the same person took Will too?! Then something clicked in his mind.

"I think I know where he went!" Leo said as he thought back to the time he and the others had gone to try and see the ghost. "Nico was the ghost!" he said but when everyone just gave him blank stares he clarified. "The house down that way," he pointed in the direction he meant, "was said to be haunted so some of my friends and I wanted to see if we could see the ghost, we had seen something and it kind of freaked us out so we left, but not Will so he must have met Nico then."

"Can you show us where this house is?" the other officer asked as he finished writing all of this down, trying to write down everything that Leo was saying and Leo nodded.

The first officer went to radio in what they had just learned about Nico di Angelo and the possible connection.

…

Leo had shown them to the house he had mentioned and more police arrived, ready in case the suspect was armed, no one knew if the children were here but it was the only lead they had. There was no sign of anyone being in the house, and there was no car to be seen.

A couple of officers went around back to check the back door, a call came that the door was unlocked and they were given the signal to proceed with caution.

A few minutes later word came from the officers inside the house reporting that it was deserted but a top floor window was open and the room showed signs of someone having been in it recently. But from there the trail went cold.

…

When word of this had gotten back to Will's parents neither knew what to do.

"What do we do now? It was the best lead we had and now we have no way to track where they could be. If we knew the car we might be able to try finding the GPS." One of the officers said.

"Wait, can you track a cell phones GPS?" Will's dad asked when he heard that part.

"If the phone is on we can, as long as it reaches a cell tower." An officer told him.

"I think Will might have my cell phone on him, if he was going to his friend's house to help him then he would have taken my cell with him to call for help." He didn't say it but the rest of his thoughts hung in the air between them.

 _If he could._

"Give us the number and we'll see what we can do." The officer said.

 **Thank you Criminal Minds! I hope I got that information right anyway (also I don't own the rights to Criminal minds, if I did I'd have multiple autographs from Matthew aka Reid)**

 **Please review**


	11. Chapter 11 On the move

**Ch. 11 On the move**

 **I'm really trying to get this one finished, and it's working. Yay me!**

 **Sorry I'm not very good at explaining time frames, in case anyone was wondering I was thinking that the news story that Will had caught was around 9 pm and his parents had discovered that he was missing maybe around 11pm. It is probably around 1 am now in the beginning of this chapter.**

…

Minos drove for a few hours until he came to a service station down the dark highway he had been traveling. One of his associates was due to meet him here with a different vehicle in case anyone had a description of his car and he'd needed a new one. He had been listening to the radio while he drove; knowing that it wouldn't be long until the brat was discovered missing.

 ** _"Urgent news bulletin: around 11 pm it was discovered that 13 year old William Solace was missing from his home. There were no witnesses but the reports of family and neighbors lead police to believe that the case is related to the abduction of Nico di Angelo from two years ago…"_**

Minos was impressed that they had pieced it together so quickly.

 ** _"Officers found information on the computer of William Solace related to the case of Nico di Angelo, friends of the boy claim that they had seen the two boys together and thought that Will had gone to help his friend but fear that it lead to his disappearance."_**

"They sure pieced that together well." Minos said as he continued listening to the news bulletin.

 **" _Upon arriving at the believed residence of Nico di Angelo and his captor, police found the home empty and have no leads to go on to locate them…"_**

Minos didn't even try to stop the cruel smile that was spreading across his face. "And they never will."

…

About fifteen minutes later there was a tap on the driver's side window and Minos peered out to find his contact standing next to the car. Minos rolled down the window so that he could talk with him. "See any cops on the way over?"

"A couple cars but none this far out yet, you should hurry though, they'll probably start searching further out soon." he looked at the sleeping boy in the passenger's seat. "So he hasn't woken up yet huh?"

Minos shook his head. "No, I made sure to up the dosage this time just to be sure."

His contact nodded. "You should be careful how much you use, it could do a lot of damage if you use too much." he looked in the back seat next. "So the other one is back there?"

Minos undid his seatbelt and got out of the car and opened the back door to start unloading the camping gear covering the other boy. "Yeah, damn brat could have done a lot of damage so I had to bring him along."

"I heard about him on the news, you know his father works at the same hospital as I do, I can't afford to get mixed up in this so hurry up, I'll take this car and dump it off somewhere else."

He took the camping gear and loaded it into the next vehicle and then brought Will over and placed him in the back seat, no longer covered up but wrapped in the blanket that had been over him before. "There's a backpack in the trunk, the kid had it with him, get rid of it in case there's anything in it that could help the cops." Minos hadn't bothered to search the bag but he didn't want to take any chances.

"Will do. The next supply is in the glove compartment for you, but I don't know how long it will last you since you've got two of them to use it on now."

But Minos just waved him off. "It's fine, I don't think I'll have to worry too much about it, as long as I have one the other will listen, neither one wants anything to happen to their dear friend after all. Children are so simple minded." Minos laughed harshly.

"I don't know, they sure did a good job of hiding things from you, you only found out about the other kid because of the surveillance system you put in recently. Who knows how long the kid has actually been coming and going, if you hadn't caught them sneaking out then they could have called the police and everything would be over."

Minos wasn't thrilled about the logic behind this assessment. "Shut up Thorn, you're not here to think, you're here to work." He snapped and his associate- Thorn took a step back.

"Right, right, just don't get me involved in this too far, remember you still need me to provide the drugs. I can't get them for you if the cops have me locked up." He held the keys for the new vehicle out for Minos to take, when he did Thorn went over to the passenger's side and brought Nico out and carried him over to the new car and set him in.

"No worries, there's no evidence that points towards your involvement in this so as long as your acting skills are up to par you should be able to go to work and no one would be the wiser, just make sure you don't slip up like the others, no one will be there to bail you out if you do, and if you try to bring me down with you…" he trailed off letting the unspoken threat hang in the air between them.

"Understood…" Thorn said as he went over to the old car and got in. Minos watched as he drove away down the deserted highway, he waited ten minutes before pulling away from the service station and going back down the road they had come from but turned down a side dirt road and headed on towards his cabin deep in the woods where no one would find them.

 **Chapter 11! Yay it's done! Okay guys things are going to get interesting next chapter so look forward to it, please let me know what you think so far, I really love hearing what you guys have to say about this!**

 **Please let me know what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12 Get away!

**Chapter 12 Get away!**

 **Here you go I hope you find this one thrilling!**

Some time has passed since Nico and Will had disappeared and all search efforts came back empty handed. It was looking like the same case as before, some people wondered if this time the boys would be lost for good.

No one knew what to do, so as an attempt to keep dark thoughts away most people carried on with their everyday lives. Leo and his friends had gone to camp like they had planned but with the whole thing with Will going on they were having a hard time enjoying camp like usual. How were you expected to have fun at summer camp when your friend or friends were missing and possibly in danger?

The mood of the group had been pretty gloomy so the councillors had suggested a camp out to get everyone's minds off of recent events. Leo wasn't about to put it out of his mind though, he had brought along some tools and parts with him to camp and had used them to put together his own radio to pick up any news on his missing friend.

He didn't tell anyone about it until they had gone off in search of a site to pitch their tents for the outing. He was in a group with Percy, Jason, and Frank. Frank hadn't really been a part of their group before but when they found out that he was a friend of Will's they invited him into their group.

They would sit together and listen to the radio Leo had rigged up whenever they got the chance but even after a week and a half there was nothing new. It was so frustrating but they couldn't do anything to change that.

"Man I can't believe that someone from our area was a sicko who steals kids." Percy said.

"I can't believe we never bothered to check out the house again after seeing someone in the window, what's even more unbelievable is that it was someone we're related to." Jason said.

Soon after the news of Will's disappearance being linked to that of Nico di Angelo got out Percy and Jason realized that the reason Nico had seemed so familiar was because he was their missing cousin. Granted they had never met in person but it had sent a huge shock through the families when news of the car accident and abduction had reached them.

"Hey it's not like you could have known, you guys had never even met before. How would you have recognized him?" Leo said trying his best to make his friends feel less guilty, he felt bad too, he had seem reports of the missing kid on t.v. before but hadn't made the connection either.

"Yeah but if one of us had told our families about him before maybe we could have helped him out of there before this happened." Percy said.

Everyone knew Percy always wanted to help people, but you couldn't save everyone right? Leo wasn't going to say that to him though, he wasn't ready to give up either, none of them were.

…

Will couldn't be sure how much time had passed since he had tried to get Nico away from his fake dad, all he knew was that a few days at least had passed by and whatever the creep was giving them to make them sleep was making him sick.

That creep, as Will had taken to referring to him in his mind, cared more about keeping Nico under control so he didn't bother as much with Will so Will was awake more often to take notice of what was around them. He had been semi-conscious on the night they had been taken, he knew that the creep had been working with someone who worked with his dad at the hospital, and that he had been the one giving the creep the drugs he used on Nico and now Will too.

Will had noticed the sleeping pills that got mixed into the food, that would explain the tiredness he'd felt the time he had dinner at Nico's, it had been an effect of the drugs mixed in. At least some of it had, he assumed that since all of Nico's meals were prepped like that they must have had smaller doses in them to keep him feeling drowsy all day, leading him to believe that he was weak from some kind of illness.

Will couldn't believe the lengths this creep would go to just to make sure that Nico didn't run away while he was away, doing something else illegal no doubt. Well Will wasn't going to just sit by and let the creep get away with whatever evil plans he had, he would get Nico out of there no matter what. But first he had to get them out of this cellar they were locked in.

Will had seen the shape of a house or something in the woods they were in when they were first brought here, and they had been locked down here for days, Will only knew that because the creep would bring down food for them now and then and then he would make them go to sleep for a while again.

Will was thankful that at least they weren't tied up or anything but Nico was always so groggy from the drugs that he couldn't move around as freely as Will could so he wasn't sure how they would get out but he wasn't going to give up.

…

Will's opportunity came one evening when the creep had come down to bring their dinner for that day, he had gone over to where Nico lay on an old mattress in the corner while Will sat against the wall, he had seen a loose board on the stairs and had been working it looser over time and waited until the creep wasn't paying attention to him and grabbed the board he then used it to hit the creep over the back of the head. There wasn't time to check what kind of damage he had done, all that mattered was getting out of there and getting Nico to safety.

But Nico is still too out of it from the sleeping pills and couldn't run, he couldn't even stand on his own so Will pulls him onto his back and starts running with Nico as best he can in his weakened state.

He carries him up the stairs and out of the cellar into the darkening woods, it must be late he thinks to himself. He pushes all thoughts out of his mind for now, he needs to find help, maybe there were other cabins nearby or some hikers though given the time that was unlikely.

Will did his best to avoid trees and roots and rocks as he ran, Nico was trying his best to hold on but he was still feeling the effects of the drugs and his grip was loose so Will had to try and reposition him as best he could and not drop him.

"Hold on Nico, I'll get us somewhere safe where he can't get us." Will said as he ran, his lungs burned like he was breathing in fire but he knew he had to keep going.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest when he heard someone behind them catching up fast. "Uh oh, looks like I didn't hit him hard enough." Will said as he dodged a tree.

They manage to keep their distance but then Will trips over a root and they roll down a steep hill.

Nico lands against a tree barely able to move as he watched Minos gets closer, Will hits the side of his head on a rock and is dazed for a moment, his vision swimming as he tries to blink it away he hears the sounds of footsteps getting closer. "Don't you dare touch him you creep!" Will yells as he tries to focus. His head hurts but he still manages to get shakily to his feet.

"Did you really believe that you could get away? You stupid brats." Minos ignores Will completely as he goes to grab Nico.

Will tries to keep Minos away from Nico by grabbing onto his arm and trying to pull him away. "I said don't touch him!" he says again while digging his heels into the dirt trying to hold the man back.

Minos just pushes him off and knocking him to the ground, but Will keeps on trying to keep him back, this time by grabbing his legs and trying to cause him to fall so Minos gets angry and kicks Will away as hard as he can.

Will rolls in the dirt and fallen leaves but stands back up again, Minos swings out at him and Will tries to dodge it but stumbles back and trips over a raised root and ends up falling off a ledge that they hadn't seen there before now. Will falls down into water down below. He surfaces and gasps for air but the pull of the water is too much for him and he goes under again.

…

Minos watches as the boy is swept away by the current down below. "Well that's one problem dealt with." he says coldly as he grabs Nico who had crawled over to the ledge when he saw his friend fall, by the back of his shirt and pull him to his feet. Nico's mind has gone blank; he's in shock after seeing Will fall over the cliff into the water below and has no energy to fight Minos off.

"I hope you have learned that running away is pointless, let's get back to the cabin now, it's getting late." Minos shows no sign of having witnessed a child fall from a cliff affect him in the least and Nico's only thoughts were if Will could still be alive after that.

 **Please don't hate me for that!**

 **Please let me know what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13 Search and Rescue

**Chapter 13 Search and rescue**

 **Thank you so much everyone who has been reading this, you guys make me so happy and I really appreciate all of the reviews, you guys are the best!**

Leo, Percy, Jason and Frank are all feeling restless after so long with still no results from the searches for their missing friends in the news Leo picked up on his radio, they knew that no one in their group would be able to sleep that night so they waited for the nightly check to be finished and another ten minutes before they left their tent with flashlights and packs in hand.

Earlier that day when they had had free time they had worked out a plan to head out on their own and do some sort of search themselves, no one could say for sure why they were so set on searching the woods around camp but they didn't have any other plan, plus as far as movies went it was the perfect place to hide out while on the run so why not?

No one was surprised when Percy had been the one to come up with the crazy idea but they just needed to feel like they were doing something to help so no one said anything against it. Once it had been agreed that they'd sneak out after dark they packed their backpacks with anything that would seem useful and they left them in their tents when it was time to get back to camp activities.

Once the coast was clear they quietly snuck out of their tents hoping that there weren't any councillors on patrol nearby and were to keep close together until they were far enough into the trees where it would be safe to turn on their flashlights.

Everything had been going according to plan until three quarters of the way to the trees Frank had stumbled and ended up falling to the ground managing to knock someone down with him, everyone stopped dead in their tracks when the quiet cries of surprise came from the two that now lay in a heap on the ground, one had been Frank but the other had been more higher pitched.

Jason threw caution to the wind and flicked on his flashlight and they saw that Frank had tripped bringing down a girl with cinnamon curls and cocoa skin with him when he fell.

Frank's face went bright red as he scrambled to his feet and quickly helped the girl to her feet as well. "I am so sorry about that! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" Frank started babbling as he stood there clearly embarrassed but the girl just smiled reassuringly at him.

"I'm okay, sorry I should have brought a flashlight but I thought I could make it to and from the bathroom without one." she looked around at the other three boys standing there. "Where you guys also going to the bathroom?" she raised her eyebrow when she noticed the backpacks they all had with them.

 _We're busted…_ Leo thought knowing that they were caught; he wondered how much trouble they would be in when the councillors were finished with them.

"Please don't say anything to the councillors! We can't get caught yet, we need to go help our friends!" Leo begged, well could you blame him? It was a serious situation and pride wasn't needed right now, just stealth.

The girl's other eyebrow shot up to match the first one. "Your friends are in trouble? Is there anything I can do to help?"

They were all caught off guard by the question, none of them had expected to get caught so soon and they definitely had not expected someone to offer to help.

"Um well we uh…" Leo looked at the others but none of them knew how to react either, "Uh sure?"

The girl smiled sweetly. "Great!"

Then they heard other voices calling out. "Hazel? Where are you?"

Jason turned and the light from his flashlight showed three other girls coming from a nearby campsite.

"What's going on?" the tall blonde girl asked as she saw the four boys standing there in the middle of the path and Hazel standing with them.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked when he saw her and she looked at him.

"You didn't answer the question, what's going on?" Annabeth asked but she didn't seem angry just wanted to know what they were all doing standing there in the dark like that.

"Uhhhh…" Percy seemed lost for words so Hazel spoke for them.

"They said that they needed to help their friends."

The other girls looked at her then back at the boys.

"What happened?" asked a girl with choppy brown hair tied in a braid.

"They're missing." Jason said.

The girls all seemed shocked by that.

"You know that news story about the missing boys?" Frank asked and Annabeth nodded, the story had become common knowledge.

"We were sick of waiting around for something to happen so we thought we'd look ourselves, we know it's not likely that they're anywhere in the area since the first time it happened they made it all the way across the country but we thought that since there's so much police involvement this time that maybe they didn't get too far yet, and so we thought we'd search the woods around here." Jason said.

"We just couldn't sit around waiting anymore, they're our friends and we want to help them." Percy added.

The girls all shared a look and then Annabeth spoke up. "Okay, we'll help you."

Percy was so happy by this that he pulled her into a hug. "You're the best Wisegirl!"

Annabeth blushed but didn't fight the hug. "Where were you planning on looking? And even if you did find them how do you plan on helping them?"

Annabeth asked when Percy let her go.

"I've been training to be a lifeguard so I have some first aid training." Percy said, it was the best they had but hopefully it counted for something.

"Oh me too." said the girl with the braid. "I'm Piper by the way, and you already know Annabeth and Hazel, this over here is Calypso, we call her Calie."

The other brunette waved. "Hi. I also have some first-aid training."

Leo let out a sigh at the turn of good luck. "That's great!" he noted that the girls seemed to have already changed for bed. "Uh if you guys are going to be coming along you might want to change first."

They girls looked at one another and agreed.

"Good idea." Piper said.

"You guys hangout here in the trees with the light off and we'll be right back." Annabeth said as the girls headed back to their tents to change.

…

Only a few short minutes later the girls had joined back up with them and they were far enough into the trees that they could turn the flashlights on.

"Okay, so now that there's more of us that should help things but where do we even look?" Jason asked looking around at the group of campers.

"We've hiked these trails a lot so we know this area pretty well; there is a stream not too far to the East of here. If we follow it we would be leaving camp borders but there are some cabins in the area." Annabeth said.

Leo sent up a prayer of thanks that the girls had come along with them because they probably wouldn't have been able to find their way on their own. "Great let's go check it out!" he said and that settled it.

They walked for maybe ten minutes before the tree line broke and they could hear running water close by.

"Looks like we've found the stream." Percy said and they headed towards it shining their lights ahead of them so that they didn't trip over rocks or roots as they went.

"Hey what's that?" Hazel asked as one of the beams of light flashed on something near the water.

All lights were directed towards where she had seen something and they all let out a collective gasp as they saw the unconscious figure lying on their back half in the water at the edge of the stream.

"Will!" the boys cried out as they all ran towards the edge of the water and together they hauled the boy out of the water and Percy set to work making sure that he hadn't already drowned, when he found that Will was still breathing he let out a sigh of relief.

"He's alive!" he told the others who were standing back, they also let out the breaths they had been holding.

Hazel was in tears. "Oh thank goodness!"

Percy and Piper stayed with Will while the others spread out and searched around to see if they could find any trace of Nico but they came back empty handed and dejected.

The boys had brought along extra clothes and blankets in their backpacks just in case and they wrapped Will up to keep him warm and help dry him off a bit, now all they could do was wait for the boy to wake up.

 **We're getting close! I told you the girls would make an appearance in here didn't I?**

 **Also Happy birthday Nico!**


	14. Chapter 14 Save him

**Chapter 14 Save him**

 **Well this took some time to get back to, sorry about that you guys.**

They couldn't move Will so while a few of them waited with him to make sure that he was going to be alright. Meanwhile the others went back to the camp sites and grabbed more things from their tents, sleeping bags, blankets, clothes, anything they would need and brought it back with them. Luckily the weather was on their side and they didn't have much to worry about while camping under the stars, they took turns staying up and monitoring Will.

Will woke up just before dawn and Leo, who had been the one awake at the time, woke the others to let them know. As they sat together they waited patiently for Will to be able to tell them what had happened and how he had ended up on the bank of the stream just outside of camp.

Will had been a little shocked when he woke up and found Leo sitting close by and even more so when he saw the others that were there as well. He didn't recognize some of them but he felt like he could trust them, it seemed that they all had been willing to stay with him after they had found him and seemed to want to help.

Percy seemed to be getting impatient though because he was the first to ask questions. "So how did you end up out here?"

"Yeah and what happened to you? All of the sudden you went missing and your parents were really freaked out! You've been missing for almost two weeks." Leo said his concern for his friend clear on his face.

Will was shocked to find out that so much time had passed, while down in that cellar it had been hard to determine how much time went by but he hadn't thought that it would be two weeks already.

Will cleared his throat before speaking, he was still in pain from what had happened before but he needed to tell them how to find Nico so that they could rescue him. "The guy that was pretending to be Nico's dad came home early and caught us when I went over to try and get him out of there. When I saw the news I knew that it was him and that I needed to help him as soon as I could and he had said that his dad wouldn't be back for another day or so, so I thought it would work. I should have told someone." he could feel the tears spring up in his eyes as he thought back on it, like they did every time he thought back on it, if only he had just told someone then maybe he could have helped Nico then.

But he had gone it alone and look at where that had gotten them, Nico was probably locked back up in that awful cellar scared and alone. But he had to keep talking and try and get help this time so he went on.

"He knocked us out, then he drove us out of town and we went to some gas station somewhere and that's where he switched cars with someone. I had woken up by then but pretended to still be out so that they wouldn't know, I heard the other guy say that he worked at the hospital with my dad and he also brought more sleeping medicine that they use on Nico to keep him believing that he's sick. After we were taken into the new car the other guy took the old one and we drove to this cabin deep in the woods."

The others were all quiet as they listened intently to the story. No one dared interrupt so he went on.

"He kept us locked up down in a cellar below the cabin, he'd bring down food from time to time with those sleeping pills mixed in so that we'd sleep a lot. We tried not to eat it because we knew but when we got too hungry we had no choice, I had no idea how long we were down there but while he was gone I would try to find ways out until finally I managed to break off a piece of wood from the stairs and when he came down I hit him with it and we ran. Nico wasn't able to run so I tried to carry him, but the creep came after us soon after and followed us into the trees.

"Before I could get us to safety I tripped and we both fell, that's when he caught us and he didn't really care about me but he tried to take Nico again so I tried to fight him but he kept hitting and kicking me until I ended up falling over a ledge I hadn't seen and that's when I fell into the water. The next thing I knew I was here with you guys." he couldn't stop the tears now, he felt like even though he had tried, it hadn't been enough and he had failed to save Nico. What kind of friend was he? He was no knight that's for sure.

Someone had pulled him into a hug as he cried more out of frustration than pain. The others sat and watched as Piper held Will and rocked him gently as he cried, they knew that he had been though a lot and felt that it would be best to let him let it out before they discussed it further. Without it being said it had been unanimously agreed that they were going to do everything that they could to save Nico di Angelo and they wouldn't stop until they had succeeded.

 **This is the most I've ever written and I'm still going!**

 **Please let me know what you think.**


	15. Chapter 15 Tying up loose ends

**Chapter 15 Tying up loose ends**

Minos sat at the table in his cabin as he waited for his associate to arrive. He knew that he had messed up when he had sent the kid falling off the ledge into the water, but he hadn't seen it there until it was too late. He was glad to be rid of the damn nuisance but if the kid's body washed up somewhere and someone discovered it then they would alert the authorities and they'd come sniffing around and he couldn't risk that.

What was worse was the possibility that the brat had survived and still posed a threat of finding help. So dead or alive that kid was still a hindrance, still screwing things up for him. That was why he had called in backup, so that they could go looking for whatever remained of the kid and get rid of him once and for all. Once that was done Minos would waste no more time here.

He'd already spent far too long here but with how desperate the police were to find him and the two kids he knew that he couldn't risk moving them too far too quickly and run the risk of getting caught. That was why they had been staying at his old cabin that he hadn't been to since two years ago when he'd first brought Nico from LA. They hadn't wasted so much time here back then because the local authorities weren't aware of them then.

When a knock came at the door he got up from the table and went to answer it. "What took you so long?" he asked feeling extra irritated because he had to wait longer than expected. He hated waiting, especially with so much riding on finishing this as soon as possible.

"Sorry, I got held up at work. Some of us still have to maintain appearances you know." He grumbled.

Minos sneered at the other man and his snarky comment as he let him into the cabin. "You think I've been on vacation out here? I have to make sure that no one comes snooping around and after the damn kid got away every minute matters. If we don't find him or whatever's left, then we're both screwed Thorn." He grit out through clenched teeth as he glared at the other man.

"Like I said before, I work with the kid's father, if they find out about the drugs they'll investigate and it likely won't take much for them to put it all together, you're getting sloppier. Here I brought another dosage in case we do find the brat, should knock him out long enough to get far enough away and give you time to work out what you're going to do next." he held out a vial of pills and a bottle of water.

Minos took them and shoved them into the deep pockets of his jacket. "Just do what you're supposed to and look for the kid, we need to get out of the area before the cops start sniffing around these parts. I didn't wait this long to get caught now."

Together they left the cabin and Minos locked up behind them. "I'll search the area where he dropped off, meanwhile I want you take the road and go in the opposite direction and have a look, if anyone comes around find a way to send them away."

"And just what do you want me to do? Give them a lift? Doesn't that seem just a bit odd to you?" Thorn asked sarcastically as he headed over to his car but complied anyway. Minos ignored him as he walked around the side of the cabin to the cellar and made sure that the chains and padlock he had put there were secure before he set out himself. It was time to tie up loose ends and then he could get out of here.

As he heard Thorn drive off down the main road he headed into the woods taking the same route he had the night before, the sun was already setting and the later it got the more wound up he felt.

This would end tonight one way or another; he'd see to that personally.

…

 **Rewind a bit**

"Okay everyone listen, we're going to split up and go in two separate teams in order to spread out our numbers and cover more ground. This way we will have more of a chance of finding this place and getting Nico out safely, if anyone runs into the people behind this, because let's face it he's likely to call in backup at this point now that his plans are falling apart, then we need to find a way to divert their attention away from the cabin Will told us about and more than likely they will also be trying the same thing so do what anyone would expect of you, pretend to be ignorant kids that got lost in the woods. We're already in our camping gear and it's no secret that there is a youth camp in this area so find some way to play that to your advantage we will need all the help we can get.

"Then the others will get a message to the rest and let them know if the coast is clear and they will go in and try and get Nico out. Leo has already, somehow, managed to get three walkie-talkies so we will relay everything whenever possible to be sure that everything is working.

"Once one group reaches the cabin split up again and have one group keep watch in case anything goes wrong. Be prepared for anything, we don't really know what we're walking into so be on guard at all times. Luckily we know how to handle ourselves in a fight and they won't be expecting that so we have the advantage as far as that goes. Remember all they see is kids, they don't know what we are capable of and that is their folly." Annabeth said as she went over the plan that they had managed to cook up.

They had agreed to split up into groups of girls and boys to avoid suspicion since they were dressed as campers and it was normal for them to be divided for things like hikes or at least that's the story that they were telling, no one needed to know that camp was mainly co-ed. The less those they were trying to fool knew the better.

After they had made sure that Will was okay they had made sure to continually go back and forth between the campsites and the stream to keep the camp counsellors as clueless as they possibly could because at this point getting others involved could only spell trouble for Nico and there was no denying that, it may have been the reason for Will's failure the last time but this time they really had no chance of making it to Nico in time if his captor found out that the authorities were on their way because he'd have more than enough time to get away and be gone without a trace again.

No this was the only chance and only choice that they had now and they needed to get it right.

"Piper, Hazel, Calypso, and I will take the East and try and get as close to the main road as we can. I hate to admit it but the whole damsel in destress card may be our best option so if it comes to that we'll be the distraction and let you know. Percy, Jason, Leo, and Frank, you go with Will but avoid the stream. We don't know who all could be involved but likely they'll be looking in this area so take the West part of the woods and circle around. If you see anyone around avoid them as best you can, our top priority is to get to the cabin and get Nico out of there safely so we want to avoid trouble as best we can.

As soon as he's out we need to get a hold of someone as soon as possible and alert the authorities. Now if we're all clear on what we need to do I suggest we get moving, the sun will be starting to set soon."

Percy smiled as he looked at Annabeth. "And that's why we call you Wisegirl, You're plan's sure to work."

Annabeth blushed slightly and Piper rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Flirt later you love birds, we have a rescue mission to do."

And with that they went their separate ways with Percy and Annabeth both feeling a little flustered.

 **Please tell me this makes sense, my brain doesn't want to work with me right now. I was kind of thinking of just uploading the part with Minos' POV but then I thought that this would be a great time to have Annabeth going over a plan to get Nico out and try to cover what's to come as best I could just so that you guys are ready for it.**

 **And damn look at that this is Ch. 15! this is the longest I've written anything! I'm so proud of my self right now not gonna lie. Thank you to everyone who's made it to this point and still hanging on, you mean so much to me and make me so happy! ^_^ We're getting close to the end but who really knows when that will be with the way things are going now, so please stay with me, I really appreciate it, thank you!**

 **Please review!**


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